91����Ƶ

Biography:

Nominated by Steve Farrell.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Kristin Megan Watts has worked as a Student Environmental Health Technician since the fall of 2003. Her main responsibilities include weekly analysis of chlorine levels and coliform sampling of 91����Ƶ State's drinking water and maintenance of records of infectious waste production, recycling inventory, storm water discharge, and storage of hazardous chemicals.

Her supervisor, Steve Farrell says, "Kristin has been able to perform all her duties with little need for anything more than introductory direction. She is always able to take on a task and complete it in a timely and thorough fashion. The quality of her work always shows through."

Dr. Dan Abrahamowicz presented the Student Employee of the Year Award to Kristin on Monday, March 28, 2005, in the lobby of Millett Hall. Her co-workers were able to congratulate Kristin following the presentation, at a reception hosted by Career Services.

In addition to her student employment responsibilities, Kristin has been a member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, National Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key International Honour Society, Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, and Habitat for Humanity. She plans to begin graduate school in the fall.

Thank you to all students participating in the Student Employment Program at 91����Ƶ State University. Your work is valued and your efforts are appreciated.

Biography:

Nnominated by her supervisor, David Jones.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Amanda Smith was selected as the 2006 91����Ƶ State University Student Employee of the Year.

Amanda is a junior Social Work major and business management minor at 91����Ƶ State University. She is currently in the Honors program with a 3.7 grade point average. Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Amanda is a 2003 graduate of Stebbins High School.

Amanda was nominated by her supervisor, David Jones in Center for Urban and Public Affairs, where she has been a student employee since the fall of 2003. She began as a telephone interviewer in the survey research lab, conducting surveys on behalf of governments and non-profit organizations. In the two and half years that she worked for the research center, she has been promoted to supervisor of the survey lab and has had the opportunity to work in different capacities on numerous research projects that the Center has conducted.

While a student at 91����Ƶ State, Amanda has taken part in the Peer 2 Peer program and has served as a tutor for the Ohio Reads program. She is an active member and former treasurer of the American Humanics Student Association, a non-profit certification program on campus. She is also a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), a national organization dedicated to excellence in survey research.

Here is an excerpt from Amanda's nomination letter written by her supervisor, David Jones:

"After completing a research project in 2004 about the impacts of high school preparation on student success, Amanda expressed a desire to explore the topic further. With this is mind, she and a fellow CUPA employee developed a 65 question survey aimed at exploring the role of high school preparation on student career and college planning. In order to ensure the validity of her survey, Amanda sought out the expertise of many WSU faculty and staff members to gain their input.

"Using Southwest Ohio as her target area, Amanda developed a sound methodology to obtain a representative sample of all public high schools in Southwest Ohio. After having her survey and methodology approved by the University's review board, she began contacting her target schools in order to gain permission to conduct her research.

"Today Amanda's survey is being implemented at more than 40 high schools in southwest Ohio. In all, between 4,000 and 5,000 high school juniors and seniors will take part in this survey. Many high schools Amanda has worked with have expressed a desire to conduct this survey on an on-going basis in order to measure the impact of changes each school may make as a result of survey findings. This in itself has positioned 91����Ƶ State University to be at the forefront of education research for many years to come.

"After data collection is complete, Amanda will enter and analyze the completed surveys, and will prepare a journal article that she plans to submit for publication in late 2006. Additionally, Amanda has applied for and has been accepted to present her findings at the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) conference in Montreal in May of 2006.

"While these attributes are impressive, what I believe truly sets Amanda apart from other students is that she has conducted this research strictly in pursuit of knowledge. She took the initiative to seek out funding for her research and for her travel to the conference, as our office would have been unable to provide all financial support. While our office has been very supportive of this research project, Amanda has been responsible for its success. She has truly been a leader in advancing research at 91����Ƶ State, and for that I believe she should be recognized."

A reception was held during National Student Employment Week in the Millett Hall Atrium. 91����Ƶ State University Provost Dr. David R. Hopkins presented Amanda Smith with a certificate and several gifts. Julie Todd, Career Services Assistant Director presented Amanda with a gift certificate and a check from Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators (MSEA) for winning at the state level. Congratulations Amanda for a job well done!

Biography:

Nominated by Dr. David Lee Garrison.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Scott DeHart is a sophomore pursing a degree in management with a minor in French. Scott works as a student assistant in the Department of Modern Languages. Conducting language placement tests, greeting visitors to the office, responding to numerous and various inquiries, and drafting correspondence are just a few of his duties in Modern Languages. The department values Scott’s creativity, initiative, and his ability to treat everyone with respect and courtesy.

Originally from Chillicothe, Ohio, Scott returns to his high school to promote the importance of taking foreign language classes. He is a 2005 graduate of Unioto High School. Scott’s career goal is to work for an international organization blending his skills and knowledge of management with the French language.

Award Winning Service

In excerpts from his nomination letter, Scott Dehart's supervisor Dr. David Lee Garrison describes how valuable and effective Scott is as a student assistant in the Department of Modern Languages:

"Scott is the most mature, polite, professional and dedicated student worker I have ever seen. He greets people, on the phone or in the office, in a way that makes them feel at ease; he listens to them and quickly ascertains what they need.

"Scott is incredibly creative. When things were slow in the office for a week or so one time, he invented a computer game to learn vocabulary words in a foreign language that our whole faculty uses.

"’Above and beyond the call of duty’ is Scott DeHart’s middle name. In addition to working in our office, he does things like go to our Majors and Minors Meetings to help us put out refreshments and clean off the tables when meetings are over.

"Scott averages 30 hours a week in our office and is active in many extracurricular activities, and yet his grades never suffer. He is majoring in management with a GPA of 3.93. Scott does everything well."

A reception, held on April 9, 2007, during National Student Employment Week, recognized Scott for his selection as 91����Ƶ State’s Student Employee of the Year. Dr. Dan Abrahamowicz presented Scott with a 91����Ƶ State University watch and a certificate recognizing Scott’s contribution to 91����Ƶ State and the Department of Modern Languages. Scott also received a gift certificate from the office of Career Services recognizing his selection as the Student Employee of the Year.

Congratulations, Scott, for your dedication and efforts on behalf of the Modern Languages Department.

Biography:

Nominated by her supervisor, Judy Brewer, a faculty member in Education and Human Services at the Lake Campus.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Melissa Steinke, student employee in the Reading Center at the Lake Campus, was selected as 91����Ƶ State University's Student Employee of the Year. In addition, Melissa competed at the state level and was selected as the winner for the state of Ohio!

Melissa was nominated by her supervisor, Judy Brewer, a faculty member in Education and Human Services at the Lake Campus. She was recognized at a reception at Lake Campus on Thursday, April 17, 2008, during National Student Employment Week. Her co-workers had the opportunity to congratulate Melissa at a private reception following the presentation hosted by Career Services.

Below is an excerpt from Melissa's nomination letter written by her supervisor, Judy Brewer:

"Melissa Steinke is a senior at 91����Ƶ State University-Lake Campus, majoring in Middle Childhood Education with concentrations in Math and Science. After graduation this spring, she will complete her fifth year at the WSU-Dayton Campus, while also working toward obtaining her K-12 Reading Endorsement.

"As a student assistant in the Lake Campus Reading Center, Melissa works long hours and is responsible for a variety of important tasks. For three years, she has worked maximum hours for the Reading Center (days, nights, summers, and every Saturday morning during the academic year) while also completing her class requirements in exemplary fashion — her current GPA is 3.609. She is also a published author, and she is an active volunteer for the Shelby County Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.

"For the Lake Campus Reading Center, Melissa is responsible for monitoring student enrollment, which involves processing forms, confirming enrollment with parents and maintaining confidential files. She also arranges student assessments, which again involves parent interaction. In addition to students and parents, she corresponds with school administrators to arrange assessment sessions, and she often travels to the schools to act as an on-site supervisor for those assessments.

When I think of Melissa, I think of a hard worker with a determined spirit … I also think of her as a future ‘Teacher of Excellence.’ This is a young person who wants to make a positive difference."

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Marc DeWitt, Graduate Assistant, Enrollment Management;
• Liane Muhlenkamp, Program Assistant, Teacher Education, Lake Campus;
• Dr. Donna Schlagheck, Chair/Professor, Political Science.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Thank you to those supervisors who participated in this year's program and nominated their excellent student employees

Biography:

Nominated by Jacqueline Neal, Director of Biology and Pre-Health programs.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Nicole has worked for the Department of Biological Sciences for three and a half years in the Biology and PreHealth Student Services office. Nicole's outgoing and friendly personality quickly led to increased responsibilities in the very busy, high call volume, advising center. She immediately adapted to scheduling appointments for multiple advisors, creating newsletters to assist in communications between the department and students, implementing a new filing system for undergraduate files, and maintaining information sheets and curriculum guides for all undergraduate and graduate students.

Jacqueline Neal, Director of Biology and Pre-Health programs who has directly supervised Nicole during her student employment wrote in her nomination letter, “Nicole's responsibilities have not ended there. With her own interest in health care (she’s a majoring in Nursing), Nicole has approached things from a student’s perspective and has helped to develop a new website and organize seminars and workshops, including the annual “Path to Health Professions” event. This event hosts over 400 high school students and admission representatives from around Ohio. Because of Nicole’s contributions, these programs have soared to greater heights and current and future WSU students will benefit from her hard work and dedication.”

Nicole’s commitment, loyalty, passion and bubbly personality are qualities truly valued by faculty, staff and students. With her strong work ethic and ability to multi-task, she serves as a role model and mentor to other student employees.

Nicole grew up on a farm in the small town of Glandorf, Ohio and is a graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School. She is planning to graduate in June and pursue a career in nursing, specializing in a high acuity field.

Nicole was recognized at a reception in Millet Hall on Tueday, April 14, during National Student Employment Week. Nicole is a “one-of-a-kind” and truly deserves this recognition. Congratulations, Nicole!

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Kenneth L. Rosengarten, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Lake Campus;
• Barbara A. Conklin, Office Assistant, University Libraries;
• Matthew Thomas Skira, Community Director, Hamilton Hall Office.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Thank you to those supervisors who participated in this year's program and nominated their excellent student employees:

Biography:

Nominated by Jean Denney, Assistant Director of Disability Services.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Brendan has worked in the Office of Disability Services for two and a half years taking on numerous roles and responsibilities. Brendan’s first position was as driver of the 91����Ƶ State accessible minivan and his outgoing and friendly personality as well as his interest in working with students with disabilities quickly led to promotions to office assistant and programming assistant. And, he performed these duties with the responsibility and confidentiality of a professional staff member.

Brendan’s attitude and willingness to assist with whatever was needed led him to being promoted to roles with Starting 91����Ƶ, a program developed as part of the Ohio STEM Ability Alliance grant which provides a webcasting program for high school students who are interested in STEM majors. Brendan aided staff in maintaining the technology needed in order to make this program a success. Additionally, Brendan served as the co-leader of the ODS Peer Mentoring program where he provided exceptional leadership by training peer mentors both in the classroom and at the low ropes course in Outdoor Recreation as well as planning and leading several off-campus activities for first-year students with disabilities and their peer mentors. He continued to co-lead the peer mentoring program for 2 years and developed and taught an academic course titled ED 101 – Mentoring Peer Mentors and Student Leaders for Students with Disabilities

Jean Denney, Assistant Director of Disability Services wrote in his nomination letter, “He quickly became everyone’s ‘go to’ student employee primarily because he was always willing to provide assistance and he never disappointed you with his ideas and follow through! Since his employment in Disability Services, Brendan has demonstrated exceptional work skills including exemplary reliability, initiative, quality of work, professionalism, and unique contributions to our department. We have been fortunate to have him work as a student employee in our department and his ongoing contributions in servicing students with disabilities.”

Brendan’s commitment, loyalty, passion, strong work ethic, and friendly disposition area qualities truly valued by students and staff in Disability Services. He is a role model to other students. Brendan will graduate in June 2010 with an undergraduate degree in Organizational Leadership. He is currently making plans to pursue a graduate degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education at 91����Ƶ State.

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Joseph Berthiaume, Ph.D., Associate Director, Residence Services;
• Jennifer Thal, Graduate Student, Student Affairs in Higher Education;
• Gretchen Rentz, Student Services Specialist, Lake Campus.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Thank you to those supervisors who participated in this year's program and nominated their excellent student employees

Biography:

Nnominated by his supervisor Marcia Wendeln, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Matthew Porter began attending 91����Ƶ State University in January 2007 and is completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences this fall. He was hired in the Freshman Biology Lab in the Spring 2007 and in 2 years became the most senior lab assistant. Matt continually looks for ways to improve the educational quality of the labs. He has been instrumental in creating new lab experiments and adapting them for the needs of students with disabilities. Additionally, he has taken on an informal leadership role by training new student employees, serving as a mentor for other assistants, and supervising the growing number of outreach programs for the lab. Some of these programs include the STEMM Exploring Science program for middle school students, Tech-Fest at Sinclair Community College, Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day at WSU, STEMM Summer Camp for students with disabilities, and several workshops for home-school groups. His dedication, resourcefulness, and leadership have resulted in extremely successful programs.

Matt takes initiative in several aspects of his job by improving lab equipment, fixing microscopes, designing methods to make experiments more effective, and searching on his own time to find materials that will help students' performance in the lab. A specific example of Matt's initiative is organizing a small team of student employees to re-build the Biology Department's dilapidated bird blind. He also got the group to commit to providing the labor and materials. Marcia Wendeln wrote in her nomination letter: "With some funding from the Dept. of Biological Sciences, Matt took the lead and they completely rebuilt the bird blind from only a frame, replacing the roof, walls, benches, and feeders. He brought in his own tools, picked up supplies with his car, and worked on Saturdays and evenings without pay to make sure the job was done. He also was instrumental in obtaining some donated supplies from Home Depot and Lowes. Although other students have helped with this project, we would not have a new bird blind in the WSU woods if it was not for Matt's extensive effort and long hours of dedication."

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Chris Murphy Assistant Dean for Student Services College of Education and Human Services;
• Charles Long Assistant Dean for Academic Services, College of Liberal Arts;
• Evelyn Lauterbach Academic Advisor, Lake Campus.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Thank you to those supervisors who participated in this year's program and nominated their excellent student employees:

Biography:

Nominated by her supervisor, Dr. Hank Dahlman, Professor of Music, Director - Choral Studies, Director- CELIA (Collaborative Education, Leadership, and Innovation in the Arts).

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Ashley's Contributions to 91����Ƶ State

In his nomination letter, Dr. Dahlman outlined some of Ashley's accomplishments in the Department of Music:

"Choral Library Renovation

"During the summer of 2011, in preparation for the new building project to renovate Schuster Hall in the Creative Arts Center, we needed to free up space in the Music Wing. That summer, Ashley, along with the junior level UCA Jeeremy Bon, completely renovated and re-ordered the entire choral music library. This included culling out-of-date and/or out-of-print, and obsolete scores from the files of over 1,000 choral octavo titles (small works) and over 200 major works and anthology titles and other book-format materials. While doing so, Ashley designed and entered data for a completely revised and computerized choral library database, replacing the antiquated and inaccurate card files. She and her student assistants (many of them volunteers that she personally recruited) also completely revamped the library work areas and office space, and oversaw the installation of new shelving in the library, following up with a complete re-filing of all the remaining choral titles. This was a HUGE job, and it was done extraordinarily well, with minimum faculty supervision. In my opinion, this alone should merit an award for Ashley.

"Coordinated registration: 2010 and 2011 Mad River Vocal Arts Festivals

"This event involves registrations from over 125 high school students representing some 25 or 30 high schools each year. Registration involves in-take and database recording of registration forms, collection of fees and delivering these the same day to the Departmental administrative assistant in charge of accounts payable, and regular contact with school directors, students, parents, and public school officials, bookkeepers, and other administrative personnel. Since this is a major recruiting event for us, it is essential that this task be handled in a highly accurate, timely, and positive and friendly way (i.e., "customer service"). Because of this, I typically have assigned this task to a graduate assistant or WSU staff member, but in this case, I had every confidence that Ashley would do an outstanding job. She absolutely delivered, and then some. Some would say it was the smoothest festival we'd ever had, and I'd agree.

"Choral Assistant for Bernstein MASS with the Dayton Philharmonic

"Last May, the WSU Choral Program, in collaboration with the Department of Theatre, Dance & Motion Pictures and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, presented a fully staged performance of MASS by Leonard Bernstein. The performances were the result of over three years of planning, and involved over 200 singers, instrumentalists, actors, dancers and technical crew. Over 80 choral singers from three different WSU choirs were involved. Ashley, along with graduate teaching assistant Amanda Hughes, oversaw all library and logistical matters pertaining to score acquisition, distribution and retrieval. The choral scores were only available as rental scores, EACH score costing $125 if not returned. Thus, we were responsible for the distribution and return of over $10,000 worth of rented scores. Ashley organized the whole thing, closely coordinating with the DPO Librarian. Needless to say, we got all the scores back from students, safely returning the scores to the DPO by the deadline.

"Choral Tour Manager

"Presently, Ashley is working as the Tour Manager for the Collegiate Chorale's presentation at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Conference and our Spring Tour to Washington, DC and Virginia, which includes performances at the National Cathedral and Colonial Williamsburg. We will sing later this summer at the Champions Level of the World Choir Games, hosted this year for the first time in the US (as it happens, Cincinnati). As Tour Manager, Ashley is responsible for coordinating rooming lists, and contacting host organizations, providing lists of repertoire, and generally assisting me with the myriad of tasks and details, and often under strict deadlines. This is the smoothest year we've had in this regard, and yet the busiest, in over 5 years. No accident."

Congratulations and thank you, Ashley Leasure!

Selection Committee

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Jenny 'Alex' Alexander, Lecturer, Department of Communications;
• Jen McCamis, Associate Director, Undergraduate Admissions;
• Liane Muhlenkamp, Program Officer Assistant for Teacher Education, Lake Campus.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Thank you to those supervisors who participated in this year's program and nominated their excellent student employees

Biography:

Nominated by Dennis J. Hance, Mechanical Engineering Program.

Kris earned the award as Student Employee of the Year due directly to his outstanding work habits and willingness to ‘do the extras without being asked’.  He recognizes what needs to be done – and does it!

We congratulate Kris on his professionalism, hard work, and dedication to 91����Ƶ State University - Lake Campus.

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Drew Corbett, Associate Director of Campus Recreation;
• Jacqueline S. Robinson, Director, Business Support Services;
• Michael LaTorre, Graduate Student, Student Affairs in Higher Education.